368 PROCEEDINGS OF THE OHIO ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 



suggest the legitimate question whether the MendeHan is not 

 entanghng himself in a fatally complex web of theory, and 

 whether the simpler course is not the frank acceptance of the 

 idea that Mendelism, while one of the greatest scientific assets 

 of our generation, may not be of universal applicability. The 

 worst that its friends can do for a theory is to attempt to make 

 it explain too much. "Omnipotence" and "death bed" are likely 

 to be heard simultaneously. The pendulum again gives us a 

 valuable suggestion. 



CONCLUSION 



Such are some of the elements of the zoological progress 

 of the quarter century which appeal to the writer as deserving 

 consideration. But the account is necessarily incomplete and 

 sketchy ; it must also necessarily be marked by a certain per- 

 sonal bias ; and many of you will wonder why this has been 

 included and that has been omitted and the other has been 

 treated as it has. 



Finally, can we draw any general conclusions? The variety 

 and range of the material covered make this almost impossible; 

 but two points have stood out in imjiressive relief during the 

 preparation of the review. 



First, the future of zoological investigation is bound up 

 with the experimental method. On the title page of de Vries' 

 California lectures stand these three pregnant sentences, which 

 may be taken to mark the progress and suggest the future of 

 all zoology as well as that phase to which they are directly 

 applied : — 



The origin of species is a natural phenomenon. — Lamarck. 



The origin of species is an object of inquiry. — Darwin. 



The origin of species is an object of experimental investi- 

 gation. — de Vries. 



Second, the outlook of zoology is one of intense optimism. 

 The survey of a great and growing science is startling, almost 

 depressing, in its sense of unattainable and almost inconceivable 

 magnitude, but inspiring as the record of the achievement of co- 

 ordinated and organized human endeavor. The members of the 



